MONI 4

As she removed the peels from a bunch of bananas she had brought in with her dirty and crooked fingers, the mad woman stared deeply into Moni’s eyes smiling “You should name your child ovie” she said and started to laugh hysterically. Moni couldn’t believe her ears. It was bad enough that she had been held captive by a crazy lady who wouldn’t let her go and now the crazy lady who didn’t know she had no children was telling her what to name her child. But who was she to judge what she said, after all she was also mad to have come on such a stupid and reckless journey without thinking twice and in that instant Moni learnt a new lesson; that everyone in life was mad, we only had varying degrees of madness.

Moni sat on the damp bed clenching her pant suit to her thighs while the mad woman like a mother dotting on her wounded child cut a piece of her ragged clothing and tied it round Moni’s feet to reduce the bleeding that had been caused by the nail. After ensuring that the feet was no longer oozing blood, the crazy lady held her lamp and began to ramble as she frantically scattered everywhere. She must be searching for something Moni thought and truly, minutes after, she handed her a neatly folded note which Moni politely collected and kept in her breast pocket. The mad woman became still and quiet afterwards and after few hours of long and awkward silence both women, sane and insane drifted into another round of sleep.

The alarm on her watch made a little bleeping sound, Moni opened her eyes and saw that it was already 6am. Luckily for her, the mad woman was still snoring loudly. This time around Moni knew she had to be smart and make no mistakes, she moved about quietly trying to find her way out. Once she got out of the shed she started to run for her dear life. She ran so fast until she got to the highway and saw her car from a distance still parked in the spot where she left it. Moni started to trek further until she spotted a group of soldiers sitting on a stack of cement bags. “Stand back woman, who are you” one of them yelled at her. “Help, please, my name is Moni, I’ve been in the bush for about two days now. I need to go back home please. Where am I?”  The soldiers came closer to ensure she wasn’t crazy and one of them said “you’re at the outskirts of Benin city”. One of the soldiers helped her into their van parked on the other side of the road and turned on the ignition. As the van travelled towards the city, Moni shut her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

She drifted in and out of consciousness. It felt like her head was going to explode, and every breath she took hurt. When she was finally awake she was certain she was no longer in the shed. The room she was in was very bright and a lot of people who looked like angels were going in and coming out. “Maybe I’m in heaven” Moni thought. She felt better knowing she was no longer stuck in a shed with a mad woman. Minutes after, a petite nurse walked into the room and stood by the IV Fluid checking to see if everything was in order. “Where am I” Moni managed to say. Startled to find out that the patient was finally fully awake she said “you’re in an hospital ma’am. You were brought in here yesterday morning unconscious, we’ve contacted your family and they are on their way, let me get the doctor, excuse me” the nurse went to fetch the doctor, an elderly man who appeared to be in his 60’s. he first check her vital signs to make sure she was okay before examining other parts of her body “Madam we are very happy that you are doing okay. A military officer brought you in here yesterday and we were able to contact your family members. You’re really dehydrated and anaemic but we are treating that now. Please try and get enough rest for your sake and that of the baby’s. Once your family is here we would monitor you for one more day and then have you discharged. Congratulations”. Moni couldn’t believe her ears; tears of joy began to trickle down her eyes as the doctor made his way out of the room. “Lest I forget...” the doctor turned back and headed back towards Moni “the nurse who brought you in found this note in your breast pocket” he gave her a side grin as he handed the note to her and found his way out. Moni unfolded the note which read;

“I had a son once. His name was Ovie. I had been barren for so long and after seven years of childlessness I finally got pregnant and gave birth to a boy. But he had a health issue. His heart was failing and after 5weeks he died. I was devastated. My husband and I buried him in this spot where I now stay. Life didn’t mean anything to me afterwards. I had no reason to live and so one day I stood in front of an incoming van on the highway and got knocked down but unfortunately I didn’t die. I suffered broken limbs and brain damage. It took over a year for me to recover physically but the damage to my brain was so much that I started behaving irrationally. My family and friends got frustrated from trying to manage my condition so I was confined to a psychiatric home. I tried to explain to them at the home that I wasn’t mad. That I was okay. That I was only heartbroken and couldn’t get over the loss of my child. But they all treated me like I was crazy until a nurse pitied me and helped me escape. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me till I realized I had nowhere to go and that’s why I came here. To the place where my son was buried. So I would know I’m not alone. No one is ever alone. I am just a human being. A human being like you.”

Moni wiped away the fresh tears that trickled down her cheek as she remembered the crazy lady who had housed her, nursed her and protected her from danger. Her thoughts were cut short as her husband burst into her hospital room looking very scruffy and sleep ridden. He rushed towards her bedside and held her arms in a long embrace “honey I’m so sorry, are you okay, I got here as soon as I could. I’m sorry for everything, please forgive me.” Moni rested her head on shoulders and hugged him tightly in silence and with no feeling of hatred towards him whatsoever. “I heard we are having a baby, is that true?” her husband said holding her frail hands and looking into her eyes. Moni nodded her head gently in response “yes it is. It’s true. He’s a boy and we are going to call him Ovie”.

The end.

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